On view
Art of the Ancient Americas
House model with people,
100 BCE–200 CE
Ixtlán del Río style
Late Formative Period
2016-1093
Model houses, populated with small solid figurines, are a distinct object type associated with the Ixtlán del Río style. The models provide a unique view of the ephemeral domestic architecture of the region, of which only the raised oval mounds that served as their foundations remain. Here the sharply pitched shape of the thatch roof features painted geometric designs that extend onto the wattle-and-daub walls and the foundation. Two men and two women are at the front of the house, and a fifth figure, another female, is at the rear, visible only if one looks deep into the interior of the building. Openings in the foundation, not visible from this angle, suggest a shaft tomb that would have extended beneath the home, as was common practice in Late Formative–period western Mexico.
Information
Title
House model with people
Dates
100 BCE–200 CE
Medium
Ceramic with polychrome slip-paint
Dimensions
25.4 × 18.5 × 20.1 cm (10 × 7 5/16 × 7 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Gillett G. Griffin
Object Number
2016-1093
Place Made
North America, Mexico, Nayarit, West Mexico
Period
Subject
March 18, 1963, sold by Mathias Komor (Fo16; M59) to Gillett G. Griffin (1928-2016), Princeton, NJ [1]; 2016, bequest of Gillett G. Griffin to the Princeton University Art Museum.
Notes:
[1] According to an invoice in the curatorial file.
